Thought I should write about this before the memory fades away (after all, you can't put your arms around a memory ...... anyone else get that?)
While I was studying for my Anaesthetic exams, I read in the paper that GNR were gonna be touring Australia and NZ in June/July 2007, with the Auckland show being held 3 days before my exam. I was swearing at myself ... such crappy timing!
GNR was my favourite band during a huge chunk of my teenage life (before finally being superseded by Iron Maiden when I was 16 or 17). I can remember buying the Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 cassette tapes in November 1991 just after they were released. I ended up listening to side 1 of Use Your Illusion 1 over and over again (I never bothered with side 2 ... would just rewind the tape and listen to side 1 again). This actually went on for a couple of months until I had this brainwave that the other 3 sides that I hadn't listened to yet might actually be just as good! Even now though, Right Next Door To Hell, Don't Cry, Perfect Crime, Bad Obsession and Back Off Bitch (all on side 1 of UYI 1) still take me back to weekday mornings in my living room, waiting to go to school when I was 13 (I was in the afternoon session) with GNR playing in the background. I still remember the lyrics to all their songs from the 5 studio albums. They were also the first albums I owned where you could clearly hear swearing in the lyrics ... and a lot of them as well. A lot of my time was spent turning the volume down at key parts of certain songs, to avoid incurring the wrath of my parents.
Ok, enough reminiscing about my childhood (for this post anyway). The tickets for the Auckland show was snapped up in an hour ... and the organisers subsequently added another show in Auckland, this time 2 days before my exam. Great fucking help that was to me! But wait .... a few hours later another announcement was made that they were adding another show ... this time in Christchurch, a whole day after my exam! I was absolutely stoked, to say the least. Fate finally dealt me a good hand - wasted no time in taking leave for that day.
Now, I know what everyone's thinking: "It's not really GNR anymore, it's just Axl" or "It's not GNR without Slash". Seriously though ... I know it's not the same GNR from 1987-1993. I decided it wasn't the same as soon as Izzy Stradlin' left the band, let alone Slash. the fact is, this is the closest thing that comes to the old GNR. Not even Velvet Revolver (with Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum) would qualify cos they only sing 1 or 2 GNR songs live. And even when they do, you know it's Scott Weiland and not Axl. So as long as the current incarnation of GNR had Axl singing close to what he sounded like (apparently the years of snorting cocaine hasn't been too kind to his vocal cords), I'd leave Christchurch a happy man.
Even though there were probably a good 200 people in front of me in the line outside the stadium, because I turned right when almost everyone else turned left after the main doors opened, I ended up with only 5 people ahead of me at the last doors (there were 2 entrances to the standing area on either side). I sprinted as soon as these doors opened and ended up right in front of the stage against the railing. And there was no fucking way I was moving for anything or anyone. Some high school kids ended up next to me, and they were talking amongst themselves. One of them tried to say something funny, and his mate goes, "Haha, that's about as funny as a stillborn". That cracked me up.
Anyway, show opened with Rose Tattoo, this old Australian hard rock band with a bluesy tinge to them. They've been around since the 70's. Their music was a little bland I have to say, but it was pretty good to hear Nice Boys Don't Play Rock 'n Roll played by the band who wrote the song (I'd only ever heard the GNR cover version). Also, I swear their frontman, a guy named Angry Anderson, was gonna have a stroke on stage at some point during the set. Next on was Sebastian Bach (for those who don't know, he's the ex-frontman for Skid Row). Now this guy, has taken great care of his voice ... it was absolutely pitch perfect. And he's a bloody good entertainer as well. I'm not a big fan of Skid Row in general, but was screaming along with everyone else when he belted 18 And Life and I Remember You.
After Bach left the stage, there was this sort of edgy anticipation throughout the crowd. Is Axl gonna throw a tantrum and not show up? (Axl doesn't turn up on stage before 11.30pm). Is he gonna leave halfway? Is he gonna give a shit performance and not really even try? Is this really happening? And then, the intro to Welcome To The Jungle started playing and 12'000 people went absolutely mental. Everyone was screaming the song. Girls (hot ones at that) started taking their tops off to try and get Axl to acknowledge them. GNR played at least 7 songs from Appetite For Destruction, which was just awesome. Only 3-4 songs from UYI 1 & 2 though. Of particular significance to me were It's So Easy, Mr Brownstone, You Could Be Mine, Out Ta Get Me and Nightrain. That last one is a song about my favourite cheap wine (Night Train, 17.5% alcohol, made in America) that I used to buy for RM20 (NZ$7.40) a bottle when I was 18-19. I could write a few posts on my experience with Night Train alone (GNR altered the spelling to avoid paying royalties). The crowd was understandably more quiet when some songs from the forever 'soon to be released' Chinese Democracy album were played but they didn't sound too bad. The pyrotechnics on stage were pretty good too.
By the end of the night, my ears were ringing but I left the venue knowing that I had been witness to the closest thing to what was once the biggest rock band in the world, and I had a huge smile on my face despite the cold wind and rain at 1.30 in the morning.
